A Hanafi scholar of comparative
fiqh and author of numerous works on Law and tasawwuf, among
which al-Tabaqat al-kubra in which he writes, as cited in the
Reliance of the Traveller:The path of the Sufis is built on the
Koran and sunna, and is based upon living according to the morals
of the prophets and purified ones. It may not be blamed unless it
violates an explicit statement from the Koran, sunna, or
scholarly consensus, exclusively. If it does not contravene one
of these, the very most that one may say of it is that it is an
understanding a Muslim man has been given, so let whoever wishes
act upon it, and whoever does not refrain, this being as true of
works as of understanding. So no pretext remains for condemning
it except one's own low opinion of others, or interpreting what
they do as ostentation, which is unlawful.

Whoever carefully examines the
branches of knowledge of the Folk of Allah Most High will find
that none of them are beyond the pale of the Sacred Law. How
should they lie beyond the pale of the Sacred Law when it is the
law that connects the Sufis to Allah at every moment? Rather, the
reason for the doubts of someone unfamiliar with the way of the
Sufis that it is of the very essence of theSacred Law is the fact
that such a person has not thoroughly mastered the knowledge of
the law. This is why Junayd (Allah Most High have mercy on him)
said, "This knowledge of ours is built of the Koran and
sunna," in reply to those of his time or any other who
imagine that it is beyond the pale of the Koran and sunna.

The Folk unanimously concur that
none is fit to teach in the path of Allah Mighty and Majestic
save someone with comprehensive mastery of the Sacred Law, who
knows its explicit and implicit rulings, which of them are of
general applicability and which are particular, which supersede
others and which are superseded. He must also have a thorough
grounding in Arabic, be familiar with its figurative modes and
similes, and so forth. So every true Sufi is a scholar is Sacred
Law, though the reverse is not necessarily true.

To summarize, no one denies the
states of the Sufis except someone ignorant of the way they are.
Qushayri says, "No era of the Islamic period has had a true
sheikh of this group, save that the Imams of the scholars of that
time deferred to him, showed humility towards him, and visited
him for the benefit of his spiritual grace (baraka). If the Folk
had no superiority or election, the matter would have been the
other way around.1